Backwoods with Tim

October 20, 2004|By TIM RESH, For the Daily American

Jim got out of his vehicle at the same spot he had parked the week before. The only thing different was the temperature. It was 20 degrees colder. Jim checked behind his truck seat for another sweatshirt, but there wasn't one. That is OK. It will probably warm up as the day moves on he thought. With his climbing stand under one arm and his bow under the other, he headed for his favorite tree. After 30 minutes of walking in the darkness with his small flashlight, he arrived at his favorite tree. By this time the chill in the air wasn't affecting him. He had worked up a sweat on the short walk. With the stand attached to the tree, he started toward the sky. At the proper height, he buckled in and pulled his bow from the ground.

Forty-five minutes later the morning started to dawn. Now it was getting brighter, but the sun was nowhere to be found. This mountainman was feeling the excitement that comes upon you as you prepare yourself for what ever walks by. Jim has been hunting with his bow for six years and has harvested three doe during that time. Over those six years he has missed his fair share of deer including a couple of bucks. It is not that Jim isn't accurate with the bow. It is just a combination of the excitement as well as surroundings that can make the difference. (As mountainmen we already know that don't we?)

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Anyway, Jim was ready. Not long after daylight was upon him, he saw movement to his left. It turned out to be a single doe coming toward his tree. As it came into range, he decided to let it pass. It was a large doe, but he had been seeing a buck in the area and that was his goal for the day. Another 15 minutes passed and a light rain started to come down. Then the wind started to pick up. Another 15 minutes past and he wished that sweatshirt had been behind the seat. At that point he decided when he got home that all his stuff would be put back in the truck. Then out in front he saw a small doe heading toward him. Jim relaxed and watched as it walked right under his stand.

The rain quit, but the wind got a little stronger. The oak he was attached to started moving him back and forth a little more than he liked. After another 30 minutes of swaying, the rains came again so he decided to head for the ground. Once on the ground he moved about 100 yards from his tree to the edge of a small stand of laurel. He blended in with his surroundings and relaxed. The short walk had also given him some added warmth from the damp air.

He wasn't in position very long when he heard the brush cracking in behind his location above the laurel. He fixed his eyes on the area of the noise and waited. It wasn't long until a doe came past flag in the air. Jim nocked an arrow and waited. Out came another doe at the same speed as the first and in a split second it was gone. Five minutes past and from the same area the brush cracked again. By this time Jim was a little excited and the damp air didn't matter. He decided that no matter bald or not if the shot can be made it will. At that point Penn's Woods went quiet. Jim wondered what the deer was waiting on. Then through the laurel he noticed a flicker of an ear. When he fixed his eyes on the flicker, he noticed part of an antler. At this point his blood pressure started to rise. All he could see was part of the head of the buck. The body was hidden in the brush.

Jim slowly grabbed his grunt call and gave it a try. No sooner than the grunt left the end of the tube the buck was out of the brush and looking in his direction. Jim didn't move a muscle. He slowly counted points. He stopped at eight. When he did, it raised his body temperature significantly. For a second the buck looked up the hill. Jim went to full draw and released. He heard the arrow hit home and the buck took off. Fifteen minutes later Jim found the buck 40 yards away and started the field-dressing. By that time it didn't matter how much rain was falling or what the temperature was this mountainman had one of the largest smiles that has ever been seen. Then it was back to the truck with his buck and stuff. Another wonderful rainy cold day in Penn's Woods.